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Finding Beauty Anywhere…

One of my most treasured experiences is to walk an ocean beach and look for rocks. I haven’t been able to escape the prairies to walk such a beach for a full year now. There is no use yearning for what cannot be right now; regular walks along the neighborhood gravel road have to suffice.

On Sunday afternoon I walked past this lovely striated rock in search of a great place to capture the late afternoon prairie sky. On my way back the same rock caught me eye. I passed it, ventured into the tall grass where I was nearly devoured by blood thirsty mosquitoes… (I know, I know, who goes out without lathering up with insect repellent… I did not anticipate the violent attack by hungry insects. I was a little tired and more focused on getting some exercise. My camera led the way… and protection from blood suckers was secondary.)

Safely back on the road I backtracked several steps as I could not get this rock out of my mind. I picked it up, gently brushed away the loose sand covering most of its surface and revealed a near perfect spiral. It fits perfectly into my palm and when I curl my fingers around it the spiral is touching my finger tips. Once home I ran some water over the round pebble. The grey turned into a golden grey defining the quartz spiral more vividly.

And then I remembered! A week and a day earlier I found the perfect companion for this new treasure at Carmel, SK, a ghost town near Humboldt, SK. A small feather was caught in several glass blades poised to drift off with the next wind gust. Two ordinary finds on two ordinary days meant to be treasured. They will help as reminders through the greyer days that the sun will be out again soon…

I found this perfect quote by John Muir (the father of the US National Parks):
When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the Universe.
– My First Summer in the Sierra , 1911, page 110. See also: John Muir Misquoted (referencing the common but inaccurate paraphrase: “When one tugs at a single thing in nature, he finds it attached to the rest of the world.”)